i don't usually agree with critics, but....

I told you all that "Valentine's Day" looked like a train wreck, and I was not wrong...

From The New York Times, which calls it "Dire" and "neither romantic nor remotely comedic"

The absence of performers who hold the screen with beauty and the mystery of their personality partly accounts for why “Valentine’s Day” comes across like bad television, specifically an extended (and interwined) episode of “Love, American Style,” the anthology show (1969-74) that paved the way for the ensemble likes of “The Love Boat.” “Valentine’s Day” might have a more recognizable cast than an average episode of “Love, American Style,” but it’s grim grim grim. This might not be the Titanic of romantic comedies (it’s tugboat size), but it’s a disaster: cynically made, barely directed, terribly written. But quick: there’s still time to escape!

From Roger Ebert:
The form of the movie may remind you wistfully of a much better one, "Love, Actually," which created characters we cared a great deal about. None of the characters here ever get beyond the "Look --There's (Name of Star)" Threshold. You know, when your mind says, Look -- there's Patrick Dempsey! Look -- there's Anne Hathaway! Look -- there's Topher Grace! Wow -- that's Jessica Biel!

"Valentine's Day" is being marketed as a Date Movie. I think it's more of a First-Date Movie. If your date likes it, do not date that person again. And if you like it, there may not be a second date.


I think that my problem with this movie (only by watching the preview, because I have not and will not be spending money on this) is simply that there are too many people in it, as Roger states above. What can you possibly do in two hours to connect all these people in any meaningful way? I know that plot and character development are not a necessity in a romantic comedy, that it's not Serious Cinema and no one will probably be getting nominated for an Oscar, but COME ON. There are so many films that do wonderful things with a small and not even hugely famous casts and that are incredibly funny and romantic. I don't know. Maybe you can't listen to me about Valentine's Day related anything, since I am going to see American Buffalo that day and not any kind of fluffy happy romantic movie...